Crazy
by bobkitty1123
Summary: Kate was absolutely crazy. Not in the certifiable way that Daniel was, but she did manage to rival him sometimes. Daniel/Kate. Now Complete.
1. Hospital visit

**A/N -** Another story! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Perception.

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Kate was absolutely crazy. Not in the certifiable way that Daniel was, but she did manage to rival him sometimes.

Daniel was cautious. It was the paranoid schizophrenia really. It kept him from risking life and limb. Of course, there were instances where he went against his better judgment simply because he knew right from wrong—like when he went in the house with the bomb despite Kate's protests. It was more important to talk down the kid than keep himself safe. Plus, he knew that he could convince the young man not to blow them all up. That was the exception, though, not the rule.

He'd never jump from a third story fire escape or chase down bad guys three times his size. That was something Kate would do—quiet, unassuming Kate whom he thought would become a therapist or perhaps the CEO of some big name corporation, not become a reckless FBI agent.

As he sat next to her bedside, watching the heart monitor, he wished she had become a therapist. Then she wouldn't have gotten shot.

The bullet just grazed her second to last rib and missed almost all her vital organs, but there had been so much blood. Daniel remembered balling up his scarf and holding it to her side as she lay motionless on the pavement. Agent Probert had gone after the suspect, and Daniel was so grateful to see the shooter in handcuffs.

Yet, he couldn't feel that justice was served when Kate was still lying in the hospital.

The nurses hadn't wanted him staying considering he wasn't family, but after a few moments of resistance, he told them that he was her fiancé. They commented on a lack of a ring on her finger but he told them that she did wear it while on the job—she didn't want to ruin it.

They relented.

A few hours later, after surgery, he was allowed into the room and he sat at her bedside, waiting. He had all the time in the world, really. He'd cancel his class that afternoon before he'd leave her side. His students would understand.

"You really care for her." A young man appeared in the empty chair next to Daniel.

It was the same boy that had been following him around for the last two days. It was the same young man who helped Daniel to solve the latest case. His name was Greg Douglas, or at least that what he told Daniel. Greg, a nuisance at first, assisted Daniel in thinking like the murderer who suffered from a severe form of autism that caused him to see the world through the eyes of a child instead of the grown man that he was. It was what led them to the abandoned circus where Kate went after the suspect without back-up—with only Daniel and Probert on his way—and ended up on the wrong end of a gun.

"Shut up." He snapped, sipping his cold coffee. It was disgusting but he kept drinking.

"You don't even like hospitals." Daniel turned to glare at Greg. "I wouldn't either if I had to endure the same things you did. Shock treatments, experimental drugs—"

"Stop talking, Greg!" Daniel shouted.

A nurse popped her head into the room after that last outburst and Daniel pretended to be asleep. Once she was gone, he sat up again and glared at Greg.

"You know what I'm talking about, Daniel." Greg persisted. "If you didn't have some kind of feelings for this woman, you wouldn't be here right now. You'd be back at home."

"I stayed with that boy, Kyle, and I didn't have feelings for him."

"Yes, but he would have died for certain if you had left. It's not the same with Kate. She'll die whether you're here or not." Greg remarked with a shrug.

"You're terrible at this, you know? This isn't making me feel any better." Daniel said.

Greg shrugged again, as if that explained away his comments. That just made Daniel wish the boy was real so he could make the nurses throw him out. If he called the nurses, though, to throw out someone who didn't exist, he would be admitted into the psych ward for sure.

Leaning forward, Daniel whispered to the unconscious Kate, "Please wake up. You're a much better conversationalist than this kid."

No response.

That made a lump form in the pit of his stomach as he sat back in the plastic chair.

Looking around the room, he found a brochure on cerebral hemorrhaging to read. After a few minutes, he realized that reading a pamphlet about bleeding to death wasn't making him feel any better.

"You don't have to do this to yourself." Greg said. "She'll probably be fine."

"I thought we were done having this conversation."

"I'm bored." The boy returned.

Daniel groaned. His subconscious was getting bored. That wasn't a good thing, but he refused to leave until Kate woke up.

"What if she doesn't wake up?" Greg asked.

"Just leave, Greg." Daniel snapped. The boy shot him a dirty look but stood, walking into the hallway. Daniel slumped in his chair, hoping that the last he would see of the boy.

He wished he had his music with him, or the newspaper. Maybe he should ask someone if there was a crossword puzzle somewhere he could do. He had dropped all his things—including his phone—at the crime scene. He had been too preoccupied with Kate to pick up his stuff. Someone probably retrieved it for him, but he'd have to go all the way back to the FBI building just to see. He could send Lewicki but he'd have to get home first. And that wasn't going happen anytime soon it seemed.

Eventually, his eyes drifted shut.

When he reopened them, the room was crowded. At first he wasn't sure what was going on. He thought they were all hallucinations, but realized quickly that they were all wearing scrubs. Kate's heart monitor was flat lining and the doctor was going to use the defibrillator on her in hopes of getting her heart going again.

A nurse standing near Daniel saw that he was awoken by the commotion and ushered him into the hall where he waited. Greg was out there, but he didn't say anything.

After what seemed like hours of sitting there, waiting, a nurse reappeared in the hall.

"She went into shock but we managed to restart her heart. She's awake but she's tired. You can go in and see her though, but not for too long." The nurse told him.

Once all the doctors and nurses left the room, Daniel practically ran in.

Kate was sitting up, pale as the sheets beneath her. Her eyes drooped but she smiled when Daniel walked into the room. He didn't know what to say so he simply pulled a seat up to her bedside and sat down.

"When were you going to tell me that we're getting married?" She asked.

Daniel stopped and stared at her in confusion. Then he remembered that he told the nurses that he was her fiancé. He gave her a weak smile.

"Yeah, I was awfully confused when the nurse told me that my fiancé was waiting in the hall for me. I thought perhaps I had lost my memory, but then you walked in."

"They wouldn't let me stay otherwise."

"Well, I'm glad you stayed." Kate said, reaching out and taking his hand in hers. Her hand was so tiny and delicate. Yet, Kate was nothing like her outward appearance. She was small and petite, but Daniel wouldn't dare treat her like that. She'd probably kick his ass.

"The nurse says I can't stay for long."

"Well, that nurse is a fuddy-duddy." Kate murmured, her words laced with sleepiness.

"I really should let you get some sleep." Daniel told her, starting to stand up. "You can call me later if you want to talk."

"Wait." She said, grabbing his arm.

Kate was pretty strong for someone who just her heart stop. With just one arm she managed to upset Daniel's balance. He fell, catching himself with a hand on the mattress. His face was just inches from hers. He tried to scramble away and get out of her personal space but she held him in place.

Then her lips were on his.

He couldn't help but go rigid. Kate was kissing him! No nonsense FBI agent, Kate Moretti was kissing him! His mind went blank and next thing he knew, he was kissing her back.

When he stood up, looking down at a smiling Kate, he heard Greg from behind him, "Told you so."

"Shut up, Greg." He said out of habit.

Kate looked up at him for a moment, confused, but then smiled. "You look worn out. You should go home and get some sleep."

Daniel nodded. He was exhausted.

As he reached the door, Kate called after him sleepily, "I want a spring wedding, Daniel."

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**A/N - **I think I would want a spring wedding too. A white dress would get lost in the snow and the summer is too hot for most of these wedding dresses nowadays. Anyway, I rambling. Review!


	2. 2 weeks or more

**A/N - **Thanks to popular demand (and a serious need for more multi-chapter Perception fanfics) I present to you a new chapter! This was the one story I knew I could continue easily. I will have at least 5, if not more chapters. Don't count on more than 5 though.

Disclaimer: I really don't own Perception.

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It was several more days before Kate could finally go home. Between having her heart stop and getting shot in the first place, she spent almost a week hooked up to IVs and watching daytime soap operas. And of course, she hated it.

Kate hardly sat still when she got the flu—how could they expect her to stay immobile now? Apparently, the doctors realized this, and that was how she ended up on Daniel's couch, being doted on by Daniel Peirce himself. He didn't send Lewicki in his place like Kate had expected, and in fact, the assistant was nowhere to be seen. With the silence that plagued the house, Kate wasn't so sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"How long do I have to lay here?" She groaned from the couch, slamming down the mug of chicken noodle soup he made her—from a can.

"Until you're better."

"And that will be?" She asked, pleadingly. He smirked at her.

"Two to three weeks." Daniel told her, bringing her an extra blanket since he noticed her shivering. Kate frowned when he threw the thick comforter over her, creating her own personal tent and cutting her off further from the rest of the world. She already felt antsy and disconnected. She wasn't even allowed her work phone—Probert came by to collect it—because the FBI needed her to rest more than anything and for some reason put Daniel in charge of that.

"But I'm bored." She whined, throwing back the blanket and pouting up at Daniel.

"Why don't we play a game?" He asked, pulling up a chair. He looked as uncomfortable as the pain from Kate's wound was making her. At least he was making an effort.

"Do you even know any games?" Kate deadpanned. Daniel shook his head, looking contemplative. "How about we get to know each other better?"

Daniel perked up at that, but his expression was of horror not excitement. "Why?"

"I don't know, Daniel. Maybe because we kissed? Unless it didn't mean anything." Kate said, feeling suddenly embarrassed. She had to have known the trying stopped somewhere.

"No, no, no. It did." He said quickly. "How do you suppose we do this?"

"I ask a question and then you ask me one. If you don't want to answer a question you can just pass, but don't even think of doing that every time." Daniel held up his hands in innocence. He had actually thought of doing that the second she said he could pass. His expression was sour as she said, "I'll go first… Tell me about your family."

"That's not a question."

"_Daniel_." She snapped.

He just glared at her. "Okay, okay. I haven't seen my family in over fifteen years. We're…not on speaking terms. My mother's lawyer and my father's an author. He's published over thirty novels, probably more by now. He always wrote about science fiction—I never much liked his work. I had a younger brother, Joel, but I was so in and out of treatment that we never became close."

"Treatment?" Kate echoed.

"Yeah." Daniel said, avoiding her eye. "Now, it's my turn, right?"

Kate nodded, knowing full well that he wasn't going to elaborate. This seemed hard enough for him as it was. She almost felt bad for pressing but also giddy that he was playing along and that she had already learned something new.

"Okay, what is your family like?" Daniel asked.

"Well, I was an only child. It was just me and my parents. My mom stayed home and raised me, and my father was in the FBI. We were all pretty happy even though it was always just the three of us."

Daniel always wished he had a better relationship with his family. He envied Kate. The only happiness he remembered in terms of his family was the day he knew he'd never have to see them again.

Kate interrupted his thoughts."What brought you to work at the university?"

"I was working as a neuroscientist, but you already know that. My work brought me to a research team at the university and was later offered a position when I expressed an interest in teaching." Daniel explained. Then he asked, "How did you become an FBI agent?"

"My father. I saw him saving people, solving cases and bringing in bad guys. He never wanted me becoming an investigator like him, but I did."

Daniel nodded. At least he had something in common with Kate's father—he never wanted her to become an FBI agent either.

"Now, I want to know…how did you end up with Lewicki? He wasn't your teaching assistant when I was your student."

"It's all rather unfortunate actually." Daniel said, melodramatically. "He was one of my students, just like you, and I took him on as an intern so he could earn working credits to graduate. And he never left."

Kate smirked. "Do all your students come back?"

"Like Acid Reflux." Daniel quipped.

Kate laughed and punched him lightly on the arm. "Not me, of course?"

Daniel just looked at her. Of course not. Never. Kate was one of the best things to ever happen to him. While hallucinations might pop up specifically because of the cases they were solving, they seemed to stay away when she was around. She made the burden easier to bear. At that moment, he wanted more than anything to share with her his world. It was frightening and foreign, even to him—someone who had it all his life. Yet, he knew she could handle it.

"Never." He said smiling.

Then they lapse into silence, their game forgotten. Daniel was contemplating how to start this conversation. He suddenly had this great urge to discuss it with someone. Lewicki knew of his condition, but only that he saw people who aren't there. He didn't know what it felt like to see someone who did exist, or the embarrassment, terror and overall frustration that came along with the mental illness. He didn't even talk to his doctors—granted he hated them. He finally found someone he wanted to talk to.

"Kate…" He began.

"Yes?" She practically purred, apparently thinking something else entirely.

Grabbing his collar, she pulled him to her gently and pecked him on the lips. When he didn't pull back or resist, she kissed him again.

It felt as great as it did in the hospital room, though Daniel wished he hadn't been interrupted. The words he hadn't gotten to say were like an itch he couldn't reach. At the same time, he didn't want to push Kate away—she might take it wrong. So instead, he allowed himself to become lost in her.

His hands ran over her arms and neck, through her hair and down her back. When he reached her waist, he didn't think about being careful. He forgot about the bandages he was supposed to change every four hours.

"OW!" Kate yelped, jerking away from him. Her expression was of pain and irritation.

"I'm sorry!" Daniel said, jumping up and running into the kitchen. He came back with a bottle full of her pain medication. "Here, you were supposed to take these half an hour ago anyway."

Kate nodded and downed the two pills, taking a sip of soup.

Daniel picked up the bottle, trying to distract himself by reading the facts. _May cause drowsiness. Do not operate a motor vehicle or heavy machinery while taking this medication._

When Daniel looked back up, Kate was slouched on the couch—snoring.

Standing, he tucked the blanket around her.

It could wait, he decided, and headed upstairs.

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**A/N - **I'm just afraid that the show will come out with these answers (one way or another) and I'm going to look like an idiot with my made-up backgrounds. Either way I am going down with this ship. .

Oh, and reviews make my day!


	3. Nightmare

**A/N - **To be honest, chapter is nothing more than a thinly veiled Ikea ad. Now you know. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Perception

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Kate awoke, disoriented in the darkness.

The room felt huge and unfamiliar. As she swung herself into a sitting position, she felt a pang of muffled pain in her abdomen. She gritted her teeth, remembering that she was in Daniel Peirce's house and sleeping on his couch.

Kate rolled back onto the couch and onto her back, staring up through the darkness at the ceiling. She noticed a blinking light directly overhead—smoke detector. Glancing around, she noticed three more blinking lights—three more smoke detectors. No one needed that many smoke detectors, but if anyone did, it was Daniel.

Smirking, she tried to stand again, her bladder deciding her actions more than anything.

If she didn't have to pee so badly, she might have just gone back to sleep, her eyelids dropping. Instead, she forced herself to stand on shaky legs and start in a random direction.

She found a flight of stairs and went up them. Kate had no idea where the bathroom was or why she thought she had to go upstairs to find it, but she knew that it was urgent. Once she reached the top, she shook herself of the encroaching haze of her mind and tried the first door on her right. It was the bathroom.

The walls were lined with white tiles as was the floor. The room was entirely spotless. The shower was polished, the sink was clean and everything was neatly stored in a cabinet behind the mirror—of course, Kate peeked; she was an FBI agent.

As she washed her hands, she looked in the mirror. She looked worn out. Bags under her eyes, her skin pallid, and her hair looked dead. A shower would be nice but as she looked at the shower, she felt woozy. She splashed water on her face and realized, begrudgingly, that she wasn't going to be able to take a shower without help, something that she wasn't going to ask for. Not because she didn't want help, but because she didn't like the idea of Daniel or Lewicki helping her clean up…naked.

Sighing, she left the bathroom.

The couch seemed inviting then.

Yet, as she reached the top of the stairs she heard something like a shout. At first she thought it had come from downstairs but then realized it was on the same floor.

Kate crept down the hall, her instincts kicking in. She cocked her head, listening for more sounds, and looked out for anything suspicious. After a few moments, she became aware of the fact that her instincts were dampened by the pain meds and her own throbbing head.

She was able to work out, however, that whoever or whatever made the noise was in the second to last room on the left—it was the only one with light slanting out from underneath. Turning the knob, she held her breath and pushed open the door.

Inside was an equally immaculate room that was nearly empty. There was a bed, neatly made, and a hardwood dresser with nothing on top but a precisely stacked pile of books and a glass of water. Pictures hung on the walls; evenly placed, all the same size with the same frame, and none crooked. There were abstract painting of the brain and definitely less abstract, more literal medical sketches. All were strangely beautiful and artistic despite the strange subject matter. Then there were pictures of people, sketched, painted and photographed, all looking strangely ordinary but very important. She wondered if Daniel created them.

Speaking of the professor, he was sitting at a desk in the corner of the room.

The desk was small considering how much space he and his gigantic typewriter took up. His music player sat next to him on the desk, and even from where she stood near the door she could hear the music.

As Kate walked closer, it became apparent that Daniel was asleep.

She stood by his shoulder, watching him dream. After a few moments, he stirred and she feared she woke him, but he only grumbled and fell silent again.

Then, "Don't touch me!"

It was spoken barely above a whisper but it seemed to echo throughout the room. Kate stepped back, think she had woke him up.

"Please don't." He whined.

She hadn't done anything. Daniel was having a nightmare.

His hand as it hung limply by his side, twitched and his eyelids shifted as his eyes darted back and forth. "I don't want to. Please don't make me!"

Kate watched helplessly as he thrashed. His entire body would stiffen up, relax, and then stiffen again as he let out another cry. Kate had no idea what to do. She never had a younger brother or sister or even close friend to comfort. It wasn't exactly her forte and she was lost as to what to do. It seemed a good course of action would be to wake Daniel up.

Reaching out tentatively, Kate prodded his shoulder. "Daniel?" He didn't wake. "Daniel?" She again, louder, shaking his arm.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" He sat up with a jerk, the words dying on his lips as he woke fully and looked around, bewildered.

"You were having a nightmare." Kate said when he finally focused on her.

Daniel didn't seem to hear her. "You're supposed to be asleep."

"I had to use the bathroom, and I heard you crying out in your sleep." She explained, and he seemed to be understanding. He nodded slowly. "Are you okay?"

"Sure." He said, standing unsteadily. He paused, looking back at his typewriter forlornly, as if he wanted to keep on writing, but then he looked back at his comfy looking bed. Daniel made up his mind and shuffled to the bed. Kate noted that he seemed to be trapped in the clutches of sleep still, his mind only focusing on one thing at a time.

Kate followed quietly, watching him climb into the bed. He didn't even bother to change. He still wore jeans and a coat. Through her own fuzziness, she stepped forward and tucked him in, pulling the blanket up around his shoulders and whispering, "Good night."

Then she turned to leave.

She was stopped by a hand on her arm. Turning she saw Daniel's pleading eyes.

"Please don't go."

Kate wasn't sure if that was Daniel speaking or his sleepiness, but she decided it wouldn't hurt. If he said anything about it in the morning, she'd just blame it on the fogginess of the pain medication. It did say, _May cause Drowsiness_, on the label.

Pulling back the sheet and comforter, she crawled in next to him, her back to his.

Sometime throughout the night though, he rolled over and wrapped his arms around the tiny woman next to him.

He had no more nightmares that night.

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**A/N -** More chapters coming your way! ...Eventually. Reveiw please!


	4. Confessions

**A/N - **Okay, so it was pointed out to me that I made some mistakes. One, I didn't take into account that schizophrenia is a mostly genetic disease, meaning one of Daniel's parents (or perhaps grandparents) had it as well. Two, I missed an episode (though I'm not sure how) where Kate's father was mentioned, so I adjusted chapter two to fix that.

Disclaimer: I don't own.

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When morning came, Daniel was surprised to find Kate curled up beside him.

His first thought was that he was still dreaming, but when he pinched his arm, he stayed where he was, watching her breath rise and fall. He wondered how she had gotten there, because the last thing he remembered was writing and then…nothing.

Kate shifted and rolled over. Her nose nearly brushed his and her eyes opened.

"Morning." She told him, her voice still hoarse with sleep. Then looked around with her brow furrowed. "How did I get here?"

Daniel shrugged and sat up. He ran a hand over his face. He was exhausted, as if he had barely slept all night, but if he had been awake, he couldn't remember anything.

Then Kate visibly perked up—her eyes remained rimmed with sleep.

"I remember!" She chirped. "I came upstairs to use the bathroom and I heard you yelling in your sleep. I came to check on you, and helped you into bed. Then you wouldn't let me leave—Did you sleep well?"

Daniel shook his head and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

Then he walked out of the room and into his own personal bathroom that was right across the hall. Lewicki could use any other bathroom in the house, but this was his and his alone. As he opened the door, he hoped that Kate hadn't been in this one, but a quick evaluation told him nothing was out of place. Sighing, he stood over the sink and allowed his head to lean against the cold mirror. His memory of the dream was coming back, crystal clear.

Daniel could have an amazing dream and wake up feeling great but he wouldn't remember a single second. An itty-bitty nightmare? He'd remember nearly all of it.

He had been dreaming about the hospital again.

The memories made his stomach roil.

Strapped to beds while they injected drugs into his system and waited for him to start thrashing and screaming; attached to a machine that shock bolts of electricity through his body; dunked in ice water; starved for days; and therapy sessions with a crooked woman with questionable methods.

He was torn from the memories by a knock at the door.

"I'm going to make breakfast!" Kate told him through the door and he heard her footsteps retreating down the hall.

When Daniel sat down at the table, Kate was already cooking eggs.

Since eggs cooked so fast and the toast didn't take too long, breakfast was done in a matter of minutes. She set it down in front of him with a glass of orange juice and took a seat on the other side of the table.

"Enjoy!" She told him smiling.

Daniel nodded and started eating. He rarely ate breakfast and when he did, it was never eggs. It was good nonetheless—and the view wasn't too bad either.

They ate mostly in silence until Kate said, "I've been thinking…"

Daniel looked at her, waiting.

"Remember when I was in your class and you handed out that paper about illnesses that were genetic and diseases that were caused by environmental factors?" Daniel nearly groaned—he should have known she'd catch it. "I think schizophrenia was listed as genetic. Were one of your parents…?"

She left the rest of the question hanging, not wanting to say it again.

Daniel sighed. "I was adopted, Kate."

Kate looked at him in surprise.

"I know nothing of my real parents, but I'm sure one of them was just as messed up as me." Daniel shrugged, wanting to change the subject already. It was one thing to talk about his schizophrenia—it was another thing to talk about what happened because of it.

"You are not mess up, Daniel." Kate reached across the table and took his hand.

He laughed shortly. "Tell that to my adoptive parents. They dropped me off at a hospital and left me there."

"They did it because they love you."

"They did it because they didn't want to deal with me."

Kate looked at him sadly, not with any pity though, and for that, Daniel was grateful. He wasn't sure how he'd feel if she began look at him the same way his doctors did, the same way his family did. Why adopt a child if you weren't even going to raise him?

Daniel wanted this conversation to end, but for some reason his mouth kept going, "They couldn't handle me talking to people who did exist. It was an 'embarrassment' and 'just plain wrong'. They never took into account that it bothered me just as much as it bothered them. It's one thing to deal with someone with it, but an entirely other thing to have it."

Kate just looked at him, her expression unreadable.

"You're always looking over your shoulder so you don't slip up. You come off as rude because you won't greet someone until you're sure they're actually there. Then there's always this nagging fear that maybe you're the hallucination of someone else's mind because of the way you feel disconnected with the world. Social cues are lost on you, no matter how many videos or movies or online articles you read trying to turn that around. And no matter what you are pigeon-holed and trapped in this idea that you're crazy."

Kate still didn't say anything—she didn't know what to say—but she did walk around the table and hug Daniel. At first he stiffened under her touch, but then relaxed and allowed his head to rest on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry…"

"I don't see why." She told him quietly. "I'm feeling stiff so I'm going to take my medication and lie down, but if you ever need to talk…I'll be here to listen."

With that Kate left the kitchen.

Daniel looked after her, grateful to have someone like her in his life.

"You love her."

"Go away, Natalie." He groaned.

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**A/N -** One more chapter to go! :P Review and let me know how many more mistakes I made!


	5. Conditions

**A/N - **The fifth and final chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Perception.

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After two and a half weeks, and three more doctor's check-ups Kate was finally allowed to go home; though she had three more days before she could return to work. And just in time for Daniel to have moved her to the luxuriously guest bedroom after she complained the couch was hurting her back—when asked why he left her on the couch in the first place then, he said that he didn't think she should be going up and down the stairs so much. She was still sore about it. The room had been as empty as Daniel's room at first, but quickly became scattered with all the clothes that Daniel had hastily packed for her when he swung by her apartment.

"Wow, you're messy." He complained from the bed as Kate bopped around the room, picking up her various articles of clothing and shoving them in her duffle bag.

She just laughed and continued to scour under the bed and dresser to make sure she didn't leave anything behind. Kate knew how much the clutter probably bothered him, but he made an allowance and she was grateful for that. The thought that she'd be leaving, however, made her frown as she stood up.

"What's wrong?" He asked, immediately noticing a change

"I just…" She picked up a shirt from the back of a chair. "…don't want to go home to that big, empty apartment."

Daniel laughed and sarcastically said, "Because it's so great here."

"Well, at least here there is you…and Lewicki…"

"And a hundred of my closest hallucinations."

Kate had nothing to say to that, so neither did Daniel. To be honest, it didn't bother her as much as Daniel thought it would. He seemed to think that the first time his attention was drawn away from her by an unwanted visitor, she'd run. It wasn't as if he could help it, and for the most part, when they were alone he'd ignore them for her.

"You should ask her to stay." Natalie said, sitting next to him on the bed.

He glared at her for a moment. "Go away."

Kate turned at that, looking at him with confusion. "Talking to me?" Then she seemed to remember. "Oh, yeah…nevermind. Who is it?"

"It's…um…just…" He trailed off and paused. Then sighed. "Natalie."

Kate returned to folding the shirt in her hands. Daniel had told her about Natalie last week after she caught him arguing with her. He spoke of his hallucination and 'best friend' rather fondly and she was glad he had someone who was an anchor in his life—even if they didn't technically exist, but that was all nitpicking, at that point.

"You know, this doesn't have to be like pulling teeth, Daniel." Kate said. "I just want you to feel comfortable around me…even when we're not alone. If acknowledging their presence makes that hard, I'll stop."

"No!" He said quickly and she raised an eyebrow at him. "It's nice to have someone who takes an interest."

She smiled brightly at him.

"Doesn't it bother you that you have to share me with these hallucinations?"

Kate looked at him a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she walked over to him and joined him sitting on the edge of the bed. "A little, to be honest. It would be nice sometimes if they didn't show up at the most inopportune times, but there's not a lot to complain about, really. I like you regardless. You try, Daniel. And that means more to me than if they didn't show up at all."

Daniel looked at her, looked at Natalie, and then sighed. "Kate, would you like to stay?"

Natalie just looked smug as Kate looked at him in surprise. "That isn't what I meant when I said I didn't want to go home."

"I know," He said, reaching over and taking her hand.

Daniel, for fear of hurting her—and she suspected, because of his own insecurity—hadn't touched her a lot the last two weeks and the contact was nice. She closed her eyes and soaked in the moment, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand. When she looked at him, his eyes were closed as well and he was soaking in the moment.

Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek.

He looked at her, his gaze soft.

"Do you mean it? Or were you just being nice?" She asked.

"I meant it." He repeated. "On three conditions."

"What?" She gaped at him in surprise.

"One, you have to use the dresser like a normal human being—no scattered clothes everywhere. Two, that bathroom across the hall from mine, is off-limits but you already know that. And three, you have to be less reckless on the job."

"I can't promise you that last one."

Daniel looked at her a moment. "Okay, maybe that's too much to ask. I guess I'm just asking you to think before you act. I don't think I can deal with doting on you for another two weeks." He smirked at her.

"That's your concern?"

He looked up at the ceiling as if it just had gotten really interesting. "And I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt again."

Kate smiled and laid a hand on his arm.

"Dote on me for weeks on end?" She offered and he grimaced.

"No, Lewicki can do it next time." Daniel said standing. "So will you stay?"

Kate nearly tackled him, throwing her arms around his neck. "Of course! Of course!"

She pecked him on the lips and ran out of the room, presumably to tell Lewicki of the new guest moving in—better her than him. He looked after her retreating down the hall. "What have I done?" He muttered.

"Stop being so melodramatic." Natalie snapped.

Daniel rolled his eyes at her and followed Kate downstairs. He was always following the FBI agent it seemed.

* * *

**A/N –** I don't know but Kate always struck me as the kind of person who was messy at home and neat at work. Though in this case, her extreme messiness is attributed to the fact she had been resting too much to keep things tidy—yeah, she actually listened to her doctor, strange huh?

Anyway, I wasn't sure about how to end this, but someone raised an interesting point: would Kate be okay with sharing Daniel with his hallucinations? So I addressed that here. Also, the decision to have her move in with them is just a way to give myself space to write a sequel if I wanted to. I probably won't, but I wouldn't mind returning to this in the future. Also, it was a way to wrap this story up (should have mentioned that sooner).

This is now complete. Anyway, thanks for reading!


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